6 Reasons Why Artists Fail at Business

1) Artists want to create art, not run a business

Running a business has nothing to do with creating art. Nothing. Really, nothing. Do you want to create art for a living? If you do that is something you should come to terms with early on.

If that idea sounds horrible to you, don’t try to make a living being an artist. I mean that, you will be much happier going to a regular 9-5 job and doing your art on the side.

If you have no interest in running a business, don’t run a business! You will fail.

This has nothing to do with you as a person, it only has to do with what you want as a person. I suck at basketball, like a lot. It is damn embarrassing how bad I am at basketball. I once saw a basketball on a court and I swear it started rolling away on its own just to not be around me.

I am ok being horrible at basketball, because I have never once tried to be good at it. That isn’t really surprising is it? Something I have absolutely no desire to be good at, I am not good at.

If you have no desire to run a business well, you will not run a business well.

You have a couple of options here: Get someone else to run your business, or live the life of a starving artist.

2) Artists fight exactly what they need to do

Most often in business and in life the thing you don’t want to do is the thing you most need to do in order to succeed.

I am an artist, and trust me, this sucks. I know exactly what I want to do all the time: I want to stay in my studio and make art. I want the entire world to come to me offering opportunity. I want models to miraculously show up at my doorstep and ask if they can pay me to take photos of them.

I know this is ridiculous, it would never happen in real life. Now comes in all of the things you don’t really want to do. You want to get a client to hire you? Well you had better get out and start meeting a ton of people who have budgets. You would do well to make them like you too.

I have faced this dilemma many many times in my career – the struggle between being a business person and an artist.

I took this portrait of myself in 2008, and things haven’t really changed. It is still a struggle between myself as an artist and myself as a business person. To be honest, I have always put being an artist on some sort of pedastool. Like “ I am an artist, I shouldn’t have to do all that business stuff, that is for lame business people”.

I thought that by becoming a “business person” that I would lose my soul. I would lose what made me ME.

Little did I know but that attitude can get you in a lot of trouble. It turns out that business really isn’t that bad. Being good at business is a lot like being good at life. You don’t have to be “That Guy” and try to convince yourself and others that you are something you are not. Just find something you believe in, and tell people about it, you will be the greatest salesperson in the world because all you tell them will be true.

You have done this before. When you really wanted to see a movie, and you convinced your friends to go with you. When you made some awesome cookies and you got everyone around you to try them. When you told your friends about dropbox so they could sign up and you would get more storage. Guess what, you just became a sales person for Dropbox. If you are willing to do it for them, why not be willing to do it for yourself?

3) FEAR FEAR FEAR

Fear can be completely immobilizing. I am not speaking here of fear of spiders or snakes, those actually make sense. Having a healthy fear of snakes means you probably won’t be an idot and try to pick up a black mamba.

Most people have fears they aren’t fully aware of, and many of those people will never confront those fears. That is not really a problem if you don’t plan on pushing yourself, but if you want to make it as an artist and in business, one of the most beneficial things you can do for yourself is to identify and face your fears.

In case you are reading this and saying to yourself “I don’t really have fear getting in the way of my success” you are either a total badass (think Blade or Marcel The Shell) or you haven’t really thought about it.

What keeps you from walking up to the hottest girl at the bar and introducing yourself? What stops you from giving the cute dude on the train your number? What stops you from eating yellow snow?

The same reasons may be what keep you from calling potential clients or sponsors on the phone and introducing yourself. The same reason may keep you from taking your life savings and investing it in your company. The same thing might be keeping you from quitting your day job to pursue your passion.

In the past year I have done all of these things, and they were ALL HARD AS HELL. Each decision scared me, and I spent a long time letting the fear control my actions. When I finally made the decision to change my life and face my fears, amazing things started to happen. Instead of me just thinking my life was going to magically get better on its own, it actually did get better.

One thing that has always helped me to face my fears is to think to myself. – What is the worst thing that could happen?

If you ask yourself this and answer honestly, you will probably find that the answer isn’t that bad. For me it was something like this: I would lose all that I own, become poor and have to live with my parents.

Then I thought to myself “It would be just like I was 17 again, I loved being 17!”. It made everything better. Going broke doesn’t mean I would forget everything that I have learned, and I am pretty confident that if I started at ZERO today, I could surpass where I am now in less than 1 year. Jobs come and go, so do possessions and just about everything else in life.

“The worst thing that happens to you may be the best thing for you if you don’t let it get the best of you”

– Will Rogers

4) Artists forget about the little things (like taxes)

There are people who spend their entire lives learning how to start companies and run successful business and still fail. Don’t let your ignorance come back to haunt you.

Thankfully there is this great thing called the internet (Al Gore is the man) with answers for just about any question you may have.

Here are some things you really need to pay attention to:

Taxes – If you are working for yourself you are not exempt from income tax. What does this mean? You just photographed a wedding and collected $3,000 for a job well done; you can pay your bills and have a little left over to celebrate. Not quite, you really just made about $1,800 – $2,200 depending on how you file your dependencies. Minus the depreciation and cost of gear/travel and you are looking at actually making $1,500. HALF. This is pretty serious, don’t wait until your taxes are due to figure this out, it will kill your business!

Business Legal Structure – Depending on how you are going to structure your business (LLC vs Inc) you have some work to do here. My advice is to hire an attorney and an accountant – these people will not work for free. If you are curious Phlearn is set up as an LLC. We have 2 accountants and an attorney. Who do you think wrote this Terms of Service– Me?

Bookkeeping – If you are planning on just using your personal checking account to run a business, please don’t. Open a second account, and handle everything that is business related through that account. Even if you are the only one getting paid by your business, pay yourself out of this account. This will make your life much easier when it comes to doing taxes.

“In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes”

– Benjamin Franklin

5) Artists think they can do everything themselves.

The problem is that usually they can, but that doesn’t mean they should.

Artists are stubborn people, I know, I am one. When an artist puts their mind to something, they will figure out how to make it work. It is that curiosity that has made them an artist in the first place.

Here is a simple rule, live by it and you will find success:Do what you are good at, and get other people to do the rest.

You don’t have to become an attorney to file all of your legal work, someone else is already an attorney. Do you really hate selling? Get someone else to do it. Hate brushing your teeth? Hire someone to brush them for you. Just don’t think that by not doing it that it doesn’t need to get done.

The biggest mistake you can make is by spending your time getting good at something you shouldn’t be doing in the first place. Someone else is already good at that, pay them to do it.

Think of your company as an airline. You may be the person who builds the plane, you may be the person who flies the plane, you may even be the dude holding the flags on the runway, but you can’t be all of them. Run your company as it would make sense on a large scale, figure out your role, figure out what other roles need to be filled, and go from there. Don’t have money to pay people? Get a loan or ask your rich uncle. If you are unwilling to do either of these things, you probably don’t believe in your own company.

6) Artists undervalue their work and skills/talent

You want to know how much your art/worth is worth? Exactly how much you say it is worth. If you don’t place value on your work, no one else will either.

Most of us started out making art because it was something we were passionate about, and we just wanted to create. I don’t know any artists who started out with money on their minds. For me personally, it was 2 years after first picking up a camera before I decided I was going to start charging for my art. This means that for 730 days, I was doing it just because I wanted to do it.

Most people see “work” as something they don’t want to do. In their heads “work” is worth money and “playing around” is not. This is why it is so hard for artists to place a price tag on their art, they would have done it even if they didn’t have to. Well I am here to tell you that just because that work you were doing didn’t suck, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t count as work. If you have years invested into your art, it has value.

Why is Godiva chocolate 5x more expensive that Hersheys? It is not 5 times better; in fact I like Dove Chocolate the best. They charge more because they tell you it is worth more. They place little chocolates delicately in a box of gold, adding nothing to the chocolate itself, only to the experience. You think you are getting something of value, and you are ok paying more for it.

People only know what you tell them. Put a fancy bow on your art, charge accordingly.

Facebook Account Causes Syrian Girl to Be Stoned to Death

A Facebook account has caused a young Syrian girl to be stoned to death by Islamic extremists. Fatoum Al-Jassem, aged 14 or 15, was taken to a Sharia court in the city of Al-Reqqah after the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants caught her using the social network. Fatoum Al-Jassem was sentenced to death by stoning after the court decided she had shown immoral behavior.

Although Facebook is not prohibited in Iraq and Syria, Islamic extremists say it is the equivalent of adultery and must therefore be punished. As an extremist group, ISIS is slowly but surely taking over several parts of Iraq and Syria. The pro-Al Qaeda jihadist group was formed in March 2013 and grew out of the Al Qaeda affiliate organization. Since then, it has become one of the main jihadist groups, making people’s lives more fearful every day. ISIS has been renounced by Al Qaeda, who said the brutality of ISIS is far too extreme for them.

It is not clear how big ISIS exactly is, but it is thought to include thousands of fighters, including many foreign fighters, who hold leadership roles within ISIS. Apart from having presence in several cities in Syria and Iraq, it is also present in towns close to the border of Turkey and some experts say the jihadist group might even be a danger to Turkey.

Al-Reqqah, where Fatoum lived, has been taken over by ISIS in March 2013 and has caused residents to fear for their lives. Rebels who have spoken about their opposition to ISIS have been arrested and locked up in jail without trial and women are no longer allowed to leave the house without a male relative or see a male doctor. Activists in the once liberal Al-Reqqah now compare their city to the Taliban-ruled Afghanistan and cannot believe an innocent Facebook account has caused a young Syrian girl to be stoned to death.

Although ISIS is taking control of many parts in Syria, they are forced to leave other parts. In Addana, residents are trying to pick up their lives after ISIS has left behind grief and sorrow. In January, several rebel groups joined their forces to launch an offensive against ISIS. One of Addana’s residents, Ayoush Ali, has two younger brothers who are missing since ISIS took control over his city a year ago. Together with his neighbor, he has dug up a grave, hoping to find answers. “My brother just left the house to buy tomatoes, sugar and socks for his kids. I found a foot, a shoe and a jacket in this grave. It’s the same jacket that my brother used to wear,” he said.

With rebel groups joining their forces, ISIS may be forced to leave certain parts of Syria and Iraq, but as this jihadist group continues to grow, other parts of the country are at risk of being controlled by ISIS. For Fatoum Al-Jassem, the unified rebel groups are too late, as a Facebook account has caused this innocent Syrian girl to be stoned to death, but residents of Al-Reqqah remain hopeful.

1 in 4 Swedish Women Will Be Raped as Sexual Assaults Increase 500%

Sweden’s population grew from 9 million to 9.5 million in the years 2004-2012, mainly due to immigration from “countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Somalia”. 16 percent of all newborns have mothers born in non-Western countries. Employment rate among immigrants: 54 percent.

In 2003, Sweden’s rape statistics were higher than average at 9.24, but in 2005 they shot up to 36.8 and by 2008 were up to 53.2. Now they are almost certainly even higher as Muslim immigrants continue forming a larger percentage of the population.

With Muslims represented in as many as 77 percent of the rape cases and a major increase in rape cases paralleling a major increase in Muslim immigration, the wages of Muslim immigration are proving to be a sexual assault epidemic by a misogynistic ideology.

The statistics are skewed by urban centers where the Islamic colonists cluster. In Stockholm this summer there was an average of 5 rapes a day. Stockholm has gone from a Swedish city to a city that is one-third immigrant and is between a fifth and a quarter Muslim.

Sweden, like the rest of the West, will have to come to terms with the fact that it can either have female equality or Muslim immigration. It cannot have both.

“You know the world is going crazy when the best rapper is a white guy, the best golfer is a black guy, the tallest guy in the NBA is Chinese, the Swiss hold the America’s Cup, France is accusing the U.S. of arrogance, Germany doesn’t want to go to war, and the three most powerful men in America are named “Bush”, “Dick”, and “Colin.” Need I say more?” ― Chris Rock

“It’s not true that I had nothing on. I had the radio on.” ― Marilyn Monroe

“What the hell is that?” I laughed.“It’s my fox hat.”“Your fox hat?”“Yeah, Pudge. My fox hat.”“Why are you wearing your fox hat?” I asked.“Because no one can catch the motherfucking fox.” ― John Green, Looking for Alaska

When this incident happened, I was about 16 years old, have not had sex with my father yet, but I was not a virgin.

My father and I were alone in our house, when the rest of the family were away for a couple of days; my father had some plans of spending some time with one of his very close friends, at the house, having drinks and playing chess or cards.

I gave dad and his friend some services of presenting their drinks and so on; I was informed that dad’s friend will spend the night at our house, in my brother’s room.

As they were watching TV, while playing their game, I was in my room, watching TV and browsing the internet making some chats with friends and so on.

They were going back and forth to the bathroom as they drank lots of beer and alcohol, when I leave my door cracked, I notice them; they are of almost same age, forties.

My bedroom door is located at the corridor which has the bathroom at the end of it, I noticed my dad’s friend walks slowly, noiseless, when he goes to use the bathroom, his eyes peeking inside my bedroom, it did not bother me, I know him very well, he is a little naughty too.

A little after midnight, I was in my room, no longer hearing their noises as they were getting partially drunk.

I got up, checked on them, my dad was a sleep in his room with his door closed, his friend was asleep too, or looked like he was, the room door was fully open, I came back to my room, put on a porno movie on CD and started watching it.

I took off my nighties, I was fully topless, but I had my panties on, getting turned on and horny, watching the porno movie alone, so I had my hand on my tits, while the other hand was under my panties, I took off my panties, became fully naked.

I was very horny, my hand was rubbing my tits, pinching my own hard erected nipples, while my other hand was on my pussy, a finger sinking deep in my pussy while the index finger rubbing my hard clit in circles.

My eyes were closed , my back arching upward, making some noises as I was masturbating, I felt I heard some noise, I opened my eyes on the surprise of my dad’s friend standing next to my bed watching me , his hand was on his, already hard, cock over the pants.

I almost fainted of shock, froze, as I was, about to scream when he put his hand on my mouth asking me to hush, and keep quiet, I was very embarrassed, but he was looking me in the eyes smiling.

“How did you get here uncle”, I asked him when he eased his hand from my mouth, as I covered my pussy with one hand, the other hand on my tits.

He said, “I wanted to use the bathroom, when I saw your door cracked, with lights on, I came closer, saw you in this state, I could not resist so I just walked in”

He continued, “You have grown up so fast Dina, you are so gorgeous, looking like an angle, he put his hand on my tit rubbed it, and pinched my nipple, but I pushed his hand a way.

He said “please let me just feel your precious body Dina, I won’t hurt you”, I said, “but my dad is out there, please leave before I scream and call him.

He smiled saying “you wouldn’t do it baby, what would an old man, like me, do to someone so precious and gorgeous like you, except enjoy the sight and feels of it?”

I begged him to leave me alone, when I felt his hand was going over my tits rubbing and pinching, he put his other hand on my mouth again, begging me to keep quiet,

He was using some force to pin me down not to be able to struggle, but he was nice and friendly at the same time.

He placed his hand on my pussy this time, pushed my hand away started rubbing my pussy, as I was trying to move his hand a way but I could not.

As I felt both of his hands on my body, pussy and tits, I was about to scream when he put his hand on my mouth again, asking me to hush up and be quiet again.

But as he did this, his palm was cubing my bare, hairless pussy, while his index finger on my clit, rubbing it in circles, I was feeling more turned on, even loosening up, somehow accepting the situation.

Well, I can’t be blamed, I was watching a sex movie, and fully nude, masturbating, then discovered this older, pussy hungry man, rubbing my pussy and tits.

I could clearly see his, hard on, under his pants, all of this made me ease up and accept situation, not thinking of what would happen if my father wakes up.

I closed my eyes, started moaning, arching my back up, closer to his hand on my pussy, he slowly moved his other hand away from my mouth as he felt me softening and stopping retaliations.

He leaned over, kissed me on the lip mumbling how much of a beautiful angle I looked, he was kissing me smoothly and softly on my lips while his hand was still doing its lovely job on my pussy, but much slower this time.

His kissing process was going downwards, ears, back of ears, neck, then to my tits, as he was rubbing my tits, sucking them, and sucking on my nipples one by one, I was moaning louder and louder, enjoying every move he was making.

He seemed to like my reaction so far, taking it as a full approval of his act, which actually was in a way.

I cannot deny the pleasure I was getting, being spoiled by this older man, treated softly, nicely, and my body being adored, respected the way I like it to be.

I decided why not let him spoil me, please me, and enjoy me, it would have been foolish to stop him at that point.

His way down wards was going so slow, as he was at my belly rubbing, kissing and manipulating my body, adoring it, my belly button got so much attention from him.

After every move of his tongue and fingers on my body, he would lift his head up, look at my body, while I was lying down fully naked in front of him, between his hands within his own reach, as if he could not believe he had a full control of my body.

Finally he was between my legs, he spread them wider, took a full look at my pussy, then looking me in the eyes telling me how beautiful I was, how precious my body was, and how lovely my pussy looked.

I felt him cubing my pussy with his palm shaking it slowly, then moving his palm passing his fingers over my pussy lips which were getting so swelled already and wet.

He was moisturizing his finger with my pussy dampness, and then passing it over my pussy lips to my pussy hole, so slow, and passionately.

He lowered his head, sticking his tongue out, as I felt his tongue tip touched my pussy lips, I shivered all over.

I felt, as if, an electric current passed through my whole body, starting at my pussy lips distributing radially to my whole body, to my nipples which got harder than they already were.

He was softly passing his tongue tip over my pussy lips, up and down, from my hard clit to my pussy hole, and then his fingers parted my pussy lips helping his tongue sinking deeper in me.

My whole body tensed up, I felt as if a huge orgasm was building up in my pussy.

His movements over my pussy, in and out of it, touching and sucking on my clit, all was making my orgasm speed up, I was breathing harder, moaning louder and louder.

Finally I was on the verge of Cumming, when he was helping me by speeding up the process of licking me and sucking my clit, till I finally was shivering, shaking, and having an orgasm.

My pussy juices flew out, wetting my pussy lips and then his mouth lips and tongue, he was slurping it in his mouth, sucking it, drip by drip making me faint of joy and pleasure.

Being like a little bird shaking between the arms of a strong, big old man, a feeling that can only be described as being in true heaven.

As of a sudden my whole body relaxed, my muscles relaxed and softened as well, I opened my eyes, looked at him, with his huge smile of satisfaction on my face, he smiled back with a “happy baby?” remark.

My answer came with a very soft feminine voice “yes, very happy uncle, thank you”, he smiled looking me all over saying, “thank me?, no baby, thanks to you, thanks god for giving me this opportunity of being in heaven, having control over such a young, angle of beauty like you, it is like a dream come true for me”

I extended both of my hands to him seeking his help for me to get up, he held both of my hands, and I got up, sat next to him with a big smile.

I said, “Uncle, it is time for this, what you call an angle, to return the favor, and take care of her uncle, so just lie down and relax and let me show you, no matter how young, I may look to you, but my expertise of pleasing you to the best point”.

He laid down on his back, I kissed him on the lips for a while, while we had our tongues searching each other mouth, same time I was unbuttoning his top, he had a set of pajamas on, then I lowered his pants, taking them out, I looked at his body, teasing his already hard cock under his boxers, I was rubbing his dick over the boxers.

Then I lowered his boxers, revealing his cock, which was slightly thin, but long enough of about 7 inches or more, some pubic hair, but soft and clean.

I held his cock in my hand massaging it slowly up and down, stuck my tongue out, passed my tongue tip over its shiny reddish head, and then passed my tongue over its length, up and down.

I opened my mouth, let his cock in between my lips, wrapping my lips around it like a little ring, lowering my head to take it deeper, when he shivered and almost jumped.

I looked him in the eyes, saying, “What?” he answered, “Nothing, I just could not believe I could ever dream of such young, golden lips wrapped around my cock”

I laughed, saying nothing, but started lowering my head to his cock, taking it deeper inch by inch, till I felt its head touched inner parts of my throat.

I paused for a second, straightened my head, for it to go in my throat, then pushed further till I felt it sinking slowly and easily in my throat, I did not stop till I felt his balls and pubic area were touching my lips.

I looked him in the eyes, feeling lots of satisfaction on his face, with high moans of pleasure, then reversed the process, by sliding his cock out of my mouth inch by inch, till I was at the cock head again.

I licked his cock head again, gave it a few soft kisses and sucks, I felt it filled with pre cum, which tasted a little salty but good as I licked it all off of his cock head.

I sucked his cock for a few more laps, making sure I do not get him close to cum, as I know at this age I could barely get one cum, I did not want it in my mouth, I have to feel this cock inside of me.

I pulled it out of my mouth slowly, looked him In the eyes, then I pulled myself upwards, saddling his body with my pussy over his cock.

I started lowering my body over his; he held his dick with his hand, guiding it to my pussy, when my pussy lips touched his cock head.

He asked me to stop, he rubbed his dickhead to my pussy lips, parting them and pushing it up and down, teasing me, boiling me up, making me more than ready for it.

I could no longer wait, I was so horny, with fire building in my pussy and all over my body, and I lowered my body down on his cock, feeling his cock head easily pumping into my cunt hole.

Oh God, it felt so good, almost making a virtual noise of pumping in, I paused for a second, then started sliding it down in my pussy, till I finally sat over it, being so deep in me to the last inch.

We paused for a moment, when he said, “I was afraid you were virgin, hating to stop at this point of top pleasure to both of us, but did not want to take your virginity”

I gave him a naughty smile saying, “and now what do you think?” he said, “I don’t seem to be the first man to fuck you”, I shook my head with a no, smiling.

It was of a very comfortable size cock, for me to easily take and adopt for, so no waiting was required, I started pulling up again, then down, dancing on his cock taking it deep in my pussy then out again.

I felt his hands holding my tits, which were bouncing up and down, he started rubbing them, taking the nipples in his mouth when he gets the chance as I lower myself down.

I was taking my time fucking this older, pussy hungry man, enjoying it, pleasing him to the best I could, for the best oral sex I got from him earlier.

He stopped me, saying, “Sweet beauty queen, can I fuck you the way I like it?” I answered instantly, “You sure can uncle”

I lifted myself up, pulled his cock out of my pussy all the way, got off, while he got up, helped me lie down on bed.

He grabbed a pillow, placed it under my lower back side, lifting my ass and pussy up to perfectly facing him position.

He lowered his head first, licked my pussy, then went to my asshole, licking and kissing till he got it so wet, then he inserted a finger in my ass while getting up again, positioned himself between my legs, lifted them up.

He was holding his cock in his hand, guiding it to my body, till I felt his cock head touching and rubbing my asshole, this time instead of my pussy, he looked me in the eyes, smiled asking, “ can I fuck you in the ass baby, could you take it in your ass?”

I smiled back, saying, “Yes I can take it in my ass, and I would love you to fuck my ass uncle”, he seems to love my answer.

He kept trying to push his cock in my ass hole slowly and easily in a considerate way, he was trying in and out, till we both felt his cock head pupping into my ass.

He paused for a second; I nodded for him to continue, as I felt no pain any more, just a little as he was pushing the head in, but no longer, he was pushing it in and out, inch by inch till I finally felt his cock deep in my ass. He rested a little.

He pulled his cock out of my ass all the way except for the head, and then pumped it at once in me this time, a moan of pleasure came out of my mouth.

He got a full control of my body now, my legs wide spread folded, my knees to my chest, his arms around my legs holding, fondling and rubbing my tits, while his cock was sliding in and out of my ass.

Once in a while he would pull one hand away from my tit, rubbing my pussy in circles on my clit, then a finger in my pussy, while the ass fuck process is going in same rhythm.

All of that action was building fire as hell in my body, and his’, same time, we were both moaning louder and louder.

I have already had an orgasm in this position, the second orgasm was building up in my pussy, while he was close enough to cum too.

He was screaming louder and louder, telling me he is ready to shoot his load of cum, asking where I want it, I told him, I want it in my ass, where his cock is fucking me now.

I started feeling his cock head swelling bigger, getting warmer then I felt his load pumping inside of me, letting his thick cock cream out into my ass hole, making it slippery and so wet, even making special noises as he continued fucking me in and out.

Finally he stopped moving, relaxed a little, till I felt his cock shrinking slowly inside of me, then he pulled it out, let my legs fall back down.

He rested his body next to mine, with his hand over me, relaxing, till he was falling asleep, I let him relax for a while then I woke him up, asking him to get dressed and get back as the night is almost over, and dad is about to wake up.